2006 Goodguys Lonestar Nationals - Worth It

I always enjoy going to Texas. It gives me a chance to visit with a few friends, and the weather is generally pretty nice for cruising a hot rod. I've used San Antonio as my base the last couple of times I've gone out there for some shows and got together with some of the guys from Vintage Air who are always willing to jump in their hot rods and put some miles under them.

I twisted their arms this year and got them to lend me a '52 Chevy hardtop they had sitting around to use as my rental car for the week. If you can picture a Texas barn car, you get the idea. It's straight with faded and rubbed-through paint but has a 350 and 10-bolt. Up front, though, it still has the stock suspension and drums (a little more arm twisting and it might get some dropped spindles and discs for my next trip). Even with the heavy braking and steering, it still beats driving to a car show in a rented Grand Am.

We hit the road with four hot rods and made the required burger and ice cream stops along the way. It wasn't long before we pulled into Fort Worth and checked into the hotel. We still had lots of daylight left, which allowed those of us with the non-show cars to sit around, supervise, and commentate while the Deuce coupe among us had its under-carriage cleaned.

The next day, we headed into the Texas Motor Speedway and soon found ourselves surrounded with more show cars than we'd seen in past years. The numbers weren't the only thing going up, as the quality of cars keeps getting better. The weather held out, although it got a little hotter each day and finding shade wasn't always easy.

The trip home was made a little more exciting, as the slightly out-of-balance tire turned out to be a bad U-joint, which came apart and allowed the driveshaft to drop out. Kind of an odd feeling checking your rearview mirror and seeing your driveshaft exit the back of the car. A relatively quick roadside repair and we were back on the road.